A Remote Location

Home theaters are definitely the trend. Everyones talking about them, he says.

The reason for the boost in popularity, according to Wright, is that the price of a home theater is getting closer to what the masses can afford. According to Qualified Remodeler magazine, as recent as 10 years ago, only 2 percent of homes in the United States had home theater or media rooms. In 10 years, that number will jump to 75 percent.

In the past, it was an extreme luxury, but its now more common, Wright says.

Another reason for home theaters popularity boost is due to their flexibility. The size and complexity of the technology vary according to price, and there is something for everyone.

The best thing about home theaters is you can create them on several levels, Studdard explains. The low-end home theater might include a big-screen TV and surround sound, but then he can go gangbusters with the most upper-end theater.

Home theaters can be fully automated and include projection systems, true theater seating and acoustical panels on the walls. Many men even opt to include full theater-style snack bars, custom home-theater carpeting and enough seating for the entire neighborhood.

Home Waves, which installs the lighting, video and audio controls, distinguishes between two types of rooms where most people put their home theater.

A basement room that usually has other things in it, things like living room furniture, a pool table and windows, is called a media room. In a media room, Home Waves installs a plasma screen because it is very bright and it reduces worry over ambient light coming in through the windows.

A home theater is a room specifically dedicated for viewing movies and has no windows. In those kinds of rooms, Home Waves installs a fixed 90 to 110-inch wall screen. Next, they install a projector, usually mounted to the ceiling, which produces a very large, very clear image.

A home theater also employs surround sound, which is comprised of a few different kinds of speakers; the left, center and right speakers and also a subwoofer, which is what gives homeowners the thumping bass sound. But dont worry about unsightly speaker boxes crowding the look of your home theater. The trend is to install the speakers into the wall, so all you see is the grill, Wright says. Another trend is simply to put them into a cabinet; that way you dont see anything at all.

And dont forget about the walls. Frank Kremer, owner of Acoustic Interiors in Douglasville, installs custom designed, custom built acoustic wall treatments to enhance viewing enjoyment.

The advantage of the panels is that they absorb sound, Kremer says. In traditional construction, you have Sheetrock, which reflects the sound.

Similar to the heavy drapes and curtains in movie theaters, the acoustic panels increase the sound clarity and make the movie more enjoyable. Plus, Its a luxurious look compared to Sheetrock, he says.

The ultimate theater-experience rooms can come with a hefty price tag, but that doesnt mean men with a budget cant have a great theater. In fact, many men simply install surround sound to their existing television sets and achieve an effect that suits them just fine.

Of course, no home theater would be complete without a DVD, VCR and complete movie collection.

Microsofts Xbox, Sony PlayStation II and Nintendos GameCube offer an endless amount of games to keep any man busy for hourssome of which can even be played online. PlayStation II also has recently begun offering an internal hard disk drive that attaches to the existing units and then online. The new disk drive, which sells for $99, enables players to download episodic content and episodic experiences.

Pricing for all three units has gone down dramatically since they were all introduced a few years ago, and range from about $149 to $179. Pricing on games also varies, but averages about $50 each.

But dont forget that the men creating these spaces grew up playing pinball machines and classic arcade games such as Pac-Man and Frogger, so its not just the games of today that are making their way into the mans rec room. A lot of men want to include these vintage arcade games, especially if they are going for a casual bar-type space, says Adam Burke, owner of Atlanta Spa & Leisure.

The guys who grew up on these games are now adults and can afford to buy them, says David Piha, of Greater Southern Home Recreation. We also sell a lot of game tables, poker tables and video games.

Also popular are the foosball and bumper pool tables, and of course, the air hockey table.

Burke says they can create custom tables to suit just about any mans dream. Many of our customers have wanted their favorite teams logo on the pool table cloth if theyre going for a sports angle, he says. We can really deck them out however.

There are, of course, pool tables available for as little as $1,500 for basic, lower-end models. Parents usually choose the tables that are between $1,500 and $3,000 if they have teenagers, Burke says. Parents definitely gravitate toward less expensive tables than homeowners that are using the pool tables as showpieces.

Pool tables can appeal to both kids and adults. They are just as great for a family night as they are for adults, Piha says.

And Burke agrees. The man of the house can shoot pool with his friends, or the teenagers can shoot pool with mom and dad, he says. That is one reason a lot of my customers say they buy pool tables.

Poker tables, which are increasing in popularity, are also a common choice for men and families. Weve seen a tremendous increase in poker tables, poker chips and Texas hold em tables, says Tommy Heard, owner of Legacy Billiards in Suwanee. Heard credits the growing interest in televised poker games as a factor in increasing sales. Generally when they come out with something like that on TV, sales increase.

Piha agrees. The overall interest in poker has been greater, he says.

Wilson has been around to see the shift from oak bars to now the more popular mahogany bars. John Moore, owner of Atlanta Trading Group, agrees. He says he sees a demand for sports-themed bars and traditional English pub bars with dark hand-rubbed mahogany finishes. Burke also says many of his clients are going for an Irish pub theme with a bar, stools and pool table.

But Burke says sports-themed rooms also are common. Its the ideal place to hang jerseys and framed sports posters, and display sports memorabilia, he says. Studdard agrees and says shes even seen bars designed with a music lover in mind. It is the perfect space to hang vintage rock posters, classic record albums and valuable instruments, she says. You can create wall units to showcase hundreds of vintage albums that you just dont see anymore.

Music lovers are the types Home Waves targets when they install LCD flatscreens in the bar area. We integrate audio into the basement by allowing homeowners to digitally download music and having thousands of hours of music right at their fingertips, Wright says. This type of audio equipment virtually eliminates the pause between tracks or the changing of CDs.

Wilson says many people want to place the bar so that when guests come into the basement, the bar gets the wow. A nice bar really is the focal point and sets the pace of the entire basement, he says. At a price tag of anywhere between $6,000 and $35,000, a custom-built bar can fit into almost any budget.

And to make the bars more family friendly, Moore says his clients simply have locks put on the cabinetry. We also have keg and wine coolers that lock so kids do not get into the spirits, he says.

And while bars are still popular in recreation rooms, both Studdard and Burke agree that many homeowners are getting away from making a traditional liquor bar the rooms focal point. Many of our clients want something more like a kitchenette than a bar, Studdard says.

Wood-paneled walls, leather chairs, walk-in humidors and even cigar-store wooden Indians definitely make up the cr??me de la cr??me of the smoking room, but its the ventilation systems that make the rooms feasible, especially in a household of non-smokers. These advanced home-ventilation systems can clean air quickly enough so that even sensitive nonsmokers can go in a room right after four men have smoked cigars and they wouldnt know it. Such systems, which circulate air separately from the rest of the house, cost about $5,000 for a room 8 feet by 8 feet.

These smoking rooms, Studdard says, are often adjacent to wine cellars and even small wine tasting rooms. Wine collecting has become kind of a craze recently, she says. If you go to a wine-tasting class, most of the people there are men, so its not a surprise that they want a sophisticated space in their own home that reflects their passion.

While wine cellars, tasting rooms and smoking rooms are perhaps the least common rooms requested, they certainly cant be ignored. Many of the same manufacturers that have been creating commercial wine display racks for wine stores are now creating these products for custom home wine cellars.

And when it comes to decorating a mans retreat, masculinity reigns supreme. Rich woods, exposed bricks and dark tones generally dominate these spaces, Studdard says. Many men also display gun safes and hunting trophies in these spaces, so they tend to be extremely masculine with rarely anything feminine.

But for those men that do want to give the space a little extra oomph, custom bars, bar stools and game tables can really create a unique style. A lot of what we do is totally custom, Burke says. We can match the bar, bar stools and all of the game tables with the same wood and finish. We can do whatever a man wants to tie into the rooms decor.